When Will The JBL Charge 6 Be Released? (What to Expect)

Having recently published our review of the Charge 5 and looking at where it places in today’s speaker market got me thinking about the future of the Charge series. Where does JBL go from here? What features is the Charge 6 going to have? And will it be that much of an upgrade over its predecessor?

Key Takeaways

We expect the JBL Charge 6 to be announced in early 2025 for release later that year.
It’s almost 3 years since the release of the Charge 5, meaning it’s now showing its age.
There are likely to be improvements to Bluetooth, battery life, and sound quality.
The Charge 6 is almost guaranteed to support Auracast, not PartyBoost.

Having reviewed used and listened to many of JBL’s recent releases, I’ve got a good idea of what we can expect from the next generation of the Charge, and identify areas where it may fall short of customer expectations. Here are my educated predictions of the JBL Charge 6 release date and the features it’s likely to have.

The Expected Charge 6 Release Date

The Charge 6 is expected to be released in 2025.

Update (18 February 2025)

The JBL Charge 6 was not announced at CES 2025 as expect. However, both the Charge 6 and Flip 7 have been leaked via the JBL portable app, suggesting we’re still on track for an early 2025 release!

JBL often uses tech events to announce its new products, with CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) both being favored by the company. Early last year they used CES 2024 to announce their new generation of speakers including the Xtreme 4, Clip 5, and Go 4.

We were anticipating the announcement of the new Flip and Charge series at this year’s IFA show but were left a little disappointed with JBL using the event primarily to promote the same speakers they were promoting earlier in the year at CES.

So when exactly will the Charge 6 come out?

I think it’s safe to say we’re looking at a 2025 release, with the Charge 5 now closing in on 3 years since its release. For perspective, the Charge 4 and Charge 5 had a 3-year window between their releases.

It seems likely that JBL will once again use the CES event in January 2025 to announce the release, thereafter there’s usually a 3 to 6-month window before the speaker is available in retail stores.

This doesn’t rule out the possibility of an announcement only later in the year, but the timing suggests a first or second-quarter 2025 release.

What’s Likely To Change Between The Charge 5 and The Charge 6

Before discussing the features I’d like to see from the Charge 6, let’s take a look at the most likely changes, based on JBL’s recent Bluetooth speaker releases. It gives a good indication of the direction we’re likely to see.

Auracast Pairing
Bluetooth 5.3/5.4
Backward track skipping
Improved bass
Better dynamics
More playtime per charge
Upgrade to 5-band EQ in the JBL Portable app

When Will The JBL Charge 6 Be Released? (What to Expect) 1

The Move From PartyBoost to Auracast

Each few years JBL changes their speakers connect in multispeaker pairings. Connect was the first technology, which was followed by Connect+ and then PartyBoost. These were all propriety technologies and limited pairing possibilities.

In 2024, they introduced Auracast, which was the first non-proprietary pairing method. Although still limited to other supporting Auracast speakers by JBL, Auracast is a feature of Bluetooth and holds the potential to allow for cross-brand pairing capabilities.

It is a near certainty that the Charge 6 will come with Auracast pairing, moving away from the PartyBoost that the Charge 5 uses. This means the Charge 6 will likely be able to be paired with the Go 4, Clip 5, Xtreme 4, and more.

This theory is also supported by JBL’s own comments on Auracast becoming a new standard for the company.

“Not yet, but many of our new wireless devices are being designed with Auracast™ compatibility in mind. The JBL Xtreme 4, Clip 5, and Go 4 are already Auracast™-compatible.”

New Bluetooth Codec Support

The Charge 6 is likely to come out with Bluetooth 5.4 or 5.3, which would both be a significant upgrade from the Charge 5 which only supports Bluetooth 5.1.

This would be a significant upgrade, as LE Audio was only introduced from Bluetooth 5.2 onwards, and LE Audio support has remarkable benefits that even impact the sound quality. That’s because it has broader codec support, with more efficient compression.

The Ability To Skip Tracks Backwards Using On-Speaker Controls

On-speaker controls aren’t essential for everyone, but when you’ve left your phone out of reach and you want to change tracks, the Charge 5 only allows for forward skipping and not backward.

Given that JBL’s small speaker releases in 2024 added support for skipping back a track, it seems highly likely that we’ll see that same capability introduced to the Charge 6. I expect that JBL may move the track skip button to the volume controls instead of the play/pause button like on the Charge 5 – but I have little doubt this quality of life improvement will be made to the next generation.

Deeper and Better Balanced Bass

Although the Charge 5 did a relatively decent job at producing bass, the lows were never particularly well-tuned. When we ran frequency response tests on the speaker there were a lot of peaks and valleys in the lower bass, which is never ideal.

With enhanced bass and smoother frequency response both being features of JBL’s newer releases, especially the PartyBox 120 and 320 – it seems logical that the Charge 6 will see similar improvements.

We may also see more bass extension, meaning deeper bass.

Better Dynamics

Possibly the most significant shortfall of the Charge 5 was its dynamics. Dynamics refers to the amount of detail the speaker can produce. For instance, could you hear the subtle sound of a triangle in the mix, and can you still hear it when you turn up the volume?

We anticipate that this may be the most significant upgrade when the Charge 6 is released. And it’s not just wishful thinking either. Dynamic range was one of the key points JBL focused on with 2024s releases, with noticeably better detail retention at high volume and in general more nuance.

Part of what makes dynamic range improve is the digital signal processors and the Bluetooth codecs (though there are a number of things that influence this).

The Charge 6 is likely to sound a lot more detailed than the Charge 5, with better vocal separation and more clarity when the volume is pushed high.

More Playtime

The JBL Charge 6 is likely to get a noteworthy upgrade to its battery life. This is supported by the fact the Xtreme 4 got a whopping 5-hour increase from its predecessor, while the Go 4 and Clip 5 also got more playtime from a single charge.

JBL also introduced a new battery-saving feature this year called ‘PlaytimeBoost’, which reduces the amount of bass in exchange for a few more hours of playtime. Considering this feature was added to the Xtreme 4, it seems likely that the Charge 6 will also have PlaytimeBoost.

5 band EQ

The JBL Portable app is a great way to adjust how your JBL speaker sounds. Although not every JBL speaker supports custom EQ, it is something we’ve seen made available to many of their new releases. Even their portable pocket speakers now have 5-band EQ.

This means it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll get a 5-band EQ on the Charge 6. This would be a significant upgrade, as the 3-band EQ offered by the Charge 5 limits how the speaker can be tuned. Only being able to adjust the bass, mids, and treble means you can easily increase or decrease additional frequency bands and negatively impact the sound quality.

Things We’d Like To See

Aside from these likely upgrades to the Charge, there are a few less likely features that we’d like to see from the next generation.

Improved Soundstage

Soundstage isn’t a term that’s familiar to everyone, but in layman’s terms, it describes the separation of sound, and speakers with better soundstage sound more realistic and immersive.

The soundstage was fairly narrow on the Charge 5 compared to some similar competitors, like the Ultimate Ears Megaboom.

I’d love to see JBL redesign the drivers a little to improve the soundstage. I don’t think we’ll get anything like a 360-degree sound design, but even a simple few adjustments to the drivers with a new DSP could improve this.

Volume

I’m hoping JBL retains the same maximum volume level of the Charge 5, or increase it with the Charge 6. I say this because there’s been a bit of a trend by manufacturers recently to sacrifice volume for better quality.

USB-C Output Port

I don’t expect it to happen, but with USB-A outputs becoming more and more obsolete – I wouldn’t mind seeing the Charge 6 adopt a USB-C output instead of the USB-A. I worry that JBL might scrap the charging output altogether though.

LED Power Indicator

Another feature I don’t to see but would welcome is an LED power indicator on the speaker to see what the battery life is at. I understand that JBL wants us to use their mobile app – but who wants to open an app, or even grab their phone every time they want to see their battery level?

Summary

In summary, the Charge 6 is yet to be announced but we do expect an announcement early in 2025 with the release for the same year. Given JBL’s recent releases, we’ve got a good gauge of what features to expect when the Charge 6 does eventually come out. Overall, I’m very hopeful for the Charge 6, as its predecessor is really starting to show its age and is in dire need of new life.

If you have your own thoughts about the Charge 6 and what you’d like to see, let us know in the comments.